Old Poisons
by Jontun
Summary: The first part of what will hopefully be a series charting the life and career of an imperial inquisitor
1. Introduction

_Central Inquistorial Archives_

_Depository (Classified)_

_Restricted File Request_

_Supply Access Code_

_Thank you Inquisitor you may proceed_

_File Request: All files pertaining to Chase, N (Inquisitor) Circa 690 M41._

_File Complex Found: Case File S/Gtk _

_Other Subdirectories within Complex: Vernius D, F (Inqusitor), Rabkrin, J (Inquistor) House Varro, House Ferrier_

_Possible Links: Troika, Ordo Hereticus (Proceedings; Gothic Sector) Halemnet; Politics of._

Archiver's Foreword (edited to context).

The suppression of the Halemnet Conspiricy remains to this day one of the most

renowned undertakings in the history of the Inquisition in the Gothic Sector,

indeed the subject has become a required case study concerning Inquistorial

Proceedings at Schola Progenium Coimbra and farther afield...

While the involvement of Niklas Chase in the proceedings was anomolous

and is largely obscured the presence of more august figures of the time

his conduct in this event earned him some minor acclaim among his peers

and some cite these proceedings as a pivotal moment in the career of the

one of the most noted Inquisitors the Gothic Sector has produced.


	2. 1: Troika, Deadweight, Recriminations

These historians do know how to mince words don't they?

Minor acclaim indeed?

Still, everyone knows history is written by those who are the best with the pen.

Every tale must begin somewhere I suppose.

Halemnet, my first assignment as a full Inquisitor, it had been a year since I had been active in the field and I my mentor had taken a replacement interrogator before she had even put my name forward for election.

Custom dictates that a newly appointed Inquisitor must conduct their first assignment with the supervision of their fellows. Halemnet seemed to be ideal, the world had fallen behind on delivering the tithe, riots and strikes were becoming a cause for concern but it was seen as a fairly routine proceeding, if one can apply such a word to Inquisitorial proceedings.

Duriana, my old mentor had pulled strings to have me included in the taskforce dispatched to investigate the latest rumblings. The problem was a full Troika of Inquisitors had been assembled to investigate and prosecute the matter, so I had been put in command of the "Tactical Support Team". In theory this entailed leading a platoon of Storm Troops in case things got out of hand. In practice this meant not getting in the way of the professionals.

So I was spending the first three weeks of the investigation kicking my heels on the command ship in orbit around the planet reading whatever information the other troika members deigned to send and compiling the reports on their findings. After all, I was surplus to requirements, right?

Even if I wasn't learning much about the case I was learning a great deal about my supposed colleagues during the weekly conferences, which was the only time my presence in their company was required.

"I think it was highly unprofessional of you to charge in unannounced when I was in the middle of an examination of a suspect Kreiser." Jugash Rabkrin, renowned more for his ability to intimidate than to act had used a Stormer platoon to threaten the alders of a manufactory township to surrender two of their most experienced workteam supervisors for collusion in smuggling a weapons cache destined for a tithe. They had denied it, but had admitted to having been approach by an underhive prospector asking for arms who had take lodgings there. He was convinced that the shortfall on the delivery of the tithe was due to manufactory workers pursuing wealth rather than fulfilling their duty to the Imperium

"Unprofessional be damned Rabkrin, your cowardice cost me two bodyguards and an arco-flagellent, do you have any idea how much I must now pay the Fabricator General on Zpandex as recompense?!"

Bastian Krieser on the other hand saw the trouble as coming from mutant cults and rebellious underhivers stirring up trouble. He had been pursuing and a group of underhive gangsters when they had run for a bolthole in the same township Rabkrin had been conducting his investigation.

The ensuing pandemonium gave the prospector, Endrik Kern, the chance to skip town and return to the underhive. Rabkrin had refused to support Kreiser and so the round of recriminations proceeded for nearly half an hour.

I was making futile attempts to shut these two blowhards up and proceed with the meeting when Kaesa picked up a small vox caster from attached the conference table through a length of cable.

"Shut up"

The volume setting was loud enough to sake one of data slates onto the floor.

"Thank you, now this incident had raised two major concerns, firstly, Inquisitor Rabkrin, your refusal to deploy troops allowed Kern the opportunity to escape, secondly Inquisitor Kreiser, you have not yet produced any evidence that under hive cult activity is in anyway linked to the current political demonstration." This was not a loud accusation but a bland statement of fact that needed no emotional embellishment.

"It is an Inquisitors duty to cleanse the unclean wherever he finds it." Kreiser retorted hoarsely, with particular emphasis on the "he" slumping back into his seat, overcome with exhaustion from his verbal sparring match with Rabkrin. I was at a loss as to how this could be the same bombastic, power armour clad firebrand who had served on the battlefields of the Imperium.

"That is true, but we are given the specific task of ascertaining the shortage in delivering the tithe and I will thank you to remember that."

"Inquisitor Kaesa, I believe you have something to report from your investigations in the upper hive." I said quickly, hoping to defuse another long argument before it had begun.

"Indeed feuding among the houses minor controlling much of the military output of the hive has become a great deal more serious. Yesterday an assassination was attempted against the patriarch of house Ferrier. The Ferrier chief steward was quick to accuse House Varro of attempting to expand gain access to the Ferrier rifleworks through assassinating the leading members of the presiding family, although matriarch Tasia denies this."

"She would wouldn't she" I observed

The assembled inquisitors ignored my comment.

"She is calling for the execution of ten Ferrier bondsmen as recompense for the destruction of a Varro body armour manufactory which was burned down this morning."

"In that case I shall dispatch one of my interrogators to examine this Ferrier fellow, I am sure we will be able to find something linking his sort in this business, I have heard that house is damnably ambitious." Rabkrin said standing up.

"I would recommend that you concentrate your efforts on finding this prospector and determining his involvement." Duriana said sharply.

"You may recommend whatever you wish Vernius, you have no authority over any other inquisitor in this room and no right to question my judgement."

Her hand reached for her hip, where her sword would have been, but she steadied herself swiftly.

"With the Troika's permission may I suggest that I investigate house Varro."

"Seconded" Duriana said automatically.

"Chase is not a member of the Troika."  
"_Inquisitor_ Chase possesses the authority to make an independent investigation, and he will be sharing his findings with us."

"He does not have the resources" Krieser said suddenly.

"Inquisitor Chase has no staff, I would second the request provided he accept Rabkrin's interrogator as an assistant."

"I accept."

Rabkrin on the other hand was emphatically against the idea.

"You cannot commandeer my personal."

"The Troika has the power to reassign staff on a temporary basis and you have been overruled in this matter Inquisitor Rabkrin."

"Very well, Interrogator Levrenti will meet you at the Ferrier High Residency at 08:00 tommorrow."


	3. 2: Ferrier, Rivals, Enemies Within

Getting around on a hive world can be challenge worthy to the skills and endurance of

Humanty's greatest intellects. Having been raised in the Under hive of Bladen's Hive Ravensburg

did nothing to help matters, since there are usually no long distance transport facilities to speak

of an so you were confined to a few square kilometres of squalor and smoke.

The Ferrier Residency was on a level the midspire section

of the hive, m/Delta/s45. the problem was the nearest docking facility was the level below

and the lifts in that section had been inoperative for past year, and so the journey required

a cable tram journey to the nearest working lift which took to the opposite side of the spire

from s45, meaning another tram journey.

When I finally arrived I was greeted by a surly looking brute at the gate with a a shotgun slung

over his back, a black anvil badge prominently displayed on the crossbelt.

'Move along, the Lord-Director's taking no visitors today'

'Inquisitor Chase to see Patriarch Ferrier' I replied holding up the black inquisitorial seal

I wore on a chain round my neck as a medallion.

'Took your sweet time getting here'

I ignored the man's comment and made to enter the residence.

He pulled a hand held auspex out of his belt, which emitted a long, low droning note.

"Wait, turn in your shooters, Guv'na's orders."

I looked around the premises, noticing more similarly equipped guards and made a decision that has

doubtless affected my career more than any other. I handed in the las pistol I had concealed in an

under armrig,and thereby avoided a hopeless shoot out over a seemingly trivial matter, or at the very l

east, a serious diplomatic incident that would doubtless have affected the investigation and my

reputation among my newfound peers. Besides, I knew I would not be completely unarmed.

Passing under the archway of the grand rockcrete facade, I turned left into the main hall.

Apart from a long wooden table and the chairs arranged around it,

the hall was virtally bear, the walls were undecorated except for an golden imperial aquilla above the door

and the family seal,a black anvil on diagonally divided blue/white shield, with the motto

(curiously in Low Gothic) "From our Labours."

"Inquisitor Chase?" A female voice called from a chair by the stairs.

"Yes."

"Interrogator Lavrente sir." The speaker was a tall, dirty blond woman, dressed in a collarless pale blue,

silver laced broadcloth coat and white pocketless trousers tucked into black leather halfboots.

The formal attire that would not have looked out of place at a high house function if it had been worn by

a man was at odds with my sombre dark grey tunic and matching trousers.

"I aplogise for my lateness interrogator."

"I only arrived here ten minutes ago myself sir."

I crossed the room to a the main table and pressed a button at its head.

A functionary in a plain brown jacket and white shirt with a standing collar emerged from a

flight of stairs.

"Inquisitor Chase." I said simply

The man blanched slightly "Patriarch Gavrus will see you directly sir."

We climed thre flights of stairs and were directed to wait

outside a pair of double doors. After around 10 minutes the doors opened, and a short, thin man, grey

bearded man in a black tail coat emerged carrying a dataslate, and our guide entered.

"Inquisitor Chase to speak to you Master Ferrier."

Before entering I directed our guide to furnish Interrogator Lavrente with an office room and a cogitator with unrestricted acess to all of House Ferrier's business files.

The patriarch was seated behind a simple clerk's desk with a built in cogiator unit. Standing in one corner was a heavily built, shaven headed man with a long bark blue coat which was perhaps

deliberately unbuttoned to display a Carapace chestpiece, again stamped with the black anvil badge and a with a bolt pistol in a sashbelt holster at his right hip.

"Ah Inquisitor Chase, Karls Ferrier Gavrus, Patriarch of House ferrier"

I would be lying if I said that it was a pleasure to see you, but I am glad I am not

having to face one of Rabkrin's overdressed, overbearing, dandyprats." He had a deep, rasping voice

"You must excuse Junas here- the Patriach indicated the bodyguard

"But with these disturbances, my Chief steward insists I am guarded

at all times, sometimes I feel like a prisoner wherever I go."

I did not smile at this weak attempt at humour to lighten the obvious tension my presence was causing/

Most of the time I have been questioned by interrogators, this is the first time I have been

questioned by a full Inquisitor. You will doubtless have had acess to transcripts of my previous

interviews with the staff of you, er, trio?"

"Troyka." I corrected.

"I have indeed Lord Patriarch." In the three weeks since arriving I had spent most of my time sifting through the countless reports and summaries the investigation had thus far generated, and it was easy to lose track some key piece of data in the veritable flood of information.

"Then you will know that the rivalry from House Varro and House Ferrier is no secret, Varro is an

ambitious house Inquisitor Chase, they have designs on becoming a House Major, control of an

entire hive complex, and the accompanying right to put a Varro on the governing council of this world, perhaps in due course to found a ruling dynasty. My house however, competes with Varro concerns here and has stakes in many other industries, including cybernetics some in other hives. We are therefore their most serious rival."

"So you believe that House Varro is behind the sabotage of your facilities."

"I am certain of it, the attacks were well organised and could only have been fianced by

those with great resources at their disposal so as to secure the services of these men."

"What of the attacks on the Varro establishments?"

"I would have more to lose from these attacks, house Varro is well connected, they have arranged a marriage with a high ranking arbites officers and a daughter of the House and have also provided the administratum with clerks, and with these connections, it is easy to explain away moves against my concerns as a manifestation of the robust nature of Hive politics. I, that is to say, my organisation, possess no such advantages and it would also be impossible for us to conceal any clumsy attempts at deterring an investigation. Is that why you are here Inquisitor, to investigate a petty feud between two minor houses?"

"No, You know as well as I do that the Inquisition has been summoned to investigate the

disturbances and their effects on the delivery of the Imperial Tithes from this world, and we have reason to believe that you "petty feud" is adding to these disturbances."

For the first time, since the discussion began, Patriarch Ferrier's unfazed air wavered. He stepped out from his desk, and made a furtive gesture towards a side door.

"Maybe we should discuss this where I know we can't be overheard."

"Junas, wait outside" He added as an afterthought.

The side door closed abruptly beside him as he went through into the next room.

I made to follow him when I heard a rustling noise behind me.

Junas was pocketing something with his right hand and drawing his pistol with his left.

"I'm sorry about this Chase, boss's orders, but I'll be sure to dispose of the body quickly.


	4. 3: Treachery, History, Confusion

This incident was one of many times in my career that I considered the merits of the heavy handed monodominant approach to an

This incident was one of many times in my career that I considered the merits of the heavy handed monodominant approach to an inquisitor's work. An inquisitors authority is without limits, so why should one be constrained by petty concerns of protocol?

Handing in my sidearm to the guard had been intended as a gesture of trust, Vernia, the troika member under whom I had recently served as an interrogator had insited on the importance of "the diplomatic approach" as far as possible to ensure a measure of voluntary cooperation in an investigation, although I strongly suspected that she only adopted this attitude to avoid the ire of well connected nobles and their possible physical or political repercussions.

"Give me your marks, all of them!" Junas demanded, referring to my symbols of office, presumably the ornate crest of the Ordo Heretecius I displayed prominently above the left hand pocket of my tunic and the stylised "I" pins on the collar of the same garment. I handed them over.

"Kern could make decent copies of these, If any one asks these were faked."

"Endrik Kern, he put you up to this?"

"Kern? No he's just a bit player, the ring too inquisitor."

I reached for the signet ring on the little finger of my left hand, and then twisted the cap, a searing pulse of light issued from the device as the concealed las cell concealed within fired.

Jarus simply grunted as the lasbolt hit his carapace chestpiece with a thump.

"Nice try Chase." The bodyguard-turned-assassin snorted as he squeezed the trigger of his bolt pistol.

Looking back on it, I was foolish to have chosen a las charge for that digital weapon, although it must have had the unforeseen advantage of dazzling the opponent because Jarus missed with his shot even though he couldn't have been more than three metres from me as I made a dive for Patriarch Ferrier's vacated desk.

The door to the room Ferrier had retired to opened and the patriarch stepped out.

"Jarus, explain yourself!" He snapped.

"Looks like the mystery the regarding the tithe shortage is about to be solved boss."

Jarus said having pointing the gun at his employer.

I took this opportunity to take another shot at this inexplicable assailant, again the feeble charge did no discernable damage, but he turned to face me again, and fell forward as if polaxed. Patriarch Ferrier looked down at his erstwhile bodyguard in puzzlement.

"Is he dead?" I asked him.

"I don't think so, it was a tranquiliser needle."

"Good because I need to get to the bottom of this, starting with why he tried to kill you."

"Well I have no idea, although–"

It was at that point that the main door opened and Interregator Lavrente entered.

"What's going on here? I heard shooting."

"I'm not sure but if you see to it that he's under guard and on the _Vigilance_ by the time I return we might discover something through his interrogation, now go!"

Ferrier summoned a pair of guards to assist Lavrente in conveying the recumbent form of his erstwhile chief guard to the shuttle, while I used the vox unit built into his desk to prepare for an interrogation. The fact that it was Iniago Barbons, Kreiser's interrogator who responded to my request and oversee the questioning did nothing to bolster my hopes of getting to the bottom of this mystery any time soon, for Barbon was rumoured to be as zealous as his master, whose preference for the older models of excruciator rather than the newer nerve induction devices was notorious. The use of the auto-flayer and the numerous other bladed attachments in my view, were more suited as a method of public execution than extracting useful or coherent information from a suspect.

My subsequent discussion with Ferrier proved to be enlightening on the subject of recent hive politics, but revealed very little concerning tithe shortfall for which I had been dispatched to investigate. Ferrier's family it seemed had only been elevated to the status of House Minor less than twenty years previously following the fall from grace of a House Major, the Tulians. The Tulian clan had knowingly harboured heretical cultists within its ranks, mistakenly placing family loyalty above the allegiance to Him On Earth that every true human being owes.

It is customary upon many hive worlds or those where the social structure retains aspects of the Feudalism of ancient Terra that, when a prominent family is disgraced and stripped of rank or title, its financial wealth is collected by the planetary government while its all industrial and business concerns are auctioned off to the highest bidder. When the Tulian Rifle Works was put up for auction, the highest bidder had been Karls Ferrier, then a bondsman to House de Meditius, whose patriarch had been Lord-Governor at the time. Ferrier himself had been acting on behalf of the Meditius concern when he put in the bid, although he had sent a Writ of Severance together with most of his personal savings, effectively ending his associations with and loyalty to the planet's ruling house.

The Writ had been cleverly submitted with an exact date and time at which it became effective, meaning that Karls Ferrier had been a free man when he made the bid with money from House Meditius safely in his account. It was his independent ownership of this small arms concern that allowed this ex bondsman to claim the title of Oligarch and recognition as head of the newly created Ferrier House Minor.

Others had used similar stratagems with other Tulian business concerns, such as the Grand Hydroponecium, the contents of which fulfilled a rationing supply contract to the Imperial Navy. However, none of these other pretenders displayed the same financial or business acumen as Ferrier, and were soon forced in turn to auction their new acquisitions. It was through these subsequent bids that House Varro had "Risen without a trace"

"Fascinating, my Lord Patriarch, but what does this have to do with problems your world is facing."

"Inquisitor Chase, it may surprise you to realise that men do not instantly transfer their loyalty to a new master simply because it is demanded by law and custom. When I took over the rifle works I was forced to lay off many former employees who were still staunchly loyal to the disgraced Tulians, costing me many man hours in lost production , hoping to demonstrate their loyalty to their former masters if they ever returned to grace. Many I regret to say have used their talents at finance and organisation to become leading figures in the underhive criminal fraternities, although, for reasons neither I nor any other agency upon this world determine House Varro contains an inordinate amount of former Tulian workers who have proved to be positively willing to serve under a new employer."

"So you are suggesting that the problems in the underhive and the recent turmoil in House politics may be related." I said, interrupting what would doubtless have otherwise proved to be another expositional monologue on Hive politics and planetary custom, complete with references to analogous incidents long past, which I had never heard of, nor I suspected, would be of much relevance even if I had.

"Precisely."

"An interesting theory Gavrus, but one that is completely unsubstantiated, I will however, mention it to the Troika, they may see fit to pursue it, but I lack the resources to make an independent investigation."

The patriarch took this pre-emptory dismissal of his attempts to aid the investigation with surprising equanimity. I had assumed that these simply the worlds a man trying to avoid further scrutiny from the Inquisition through a show of cooperation. In truth I planned to lobby hard for an inquiry into this new avenue of investigation, although I could not allow a man who remained the subject to an Inquisitorial investigation to believe, however wrongly, that I owed him.

My return to the _Vigilance_, some hours later, went virtually unnoticed due to the turmoil caused by events elsewhere.


End file.
